What happens next?
by Beckett83
Summary: A short piece on what I hope happens when Kate wakes up. I need some closure to last me through this long summer. Spoilers for Knockout. My first story, no promises.


Cold. Waking up slowly, sliding open her groggy eyes, all Kate could feel was cold. She tried to make sense of everything: the room, lying in a hospital bed, the pain...and then she remembered those words. Did he actually...

"You're up." Came a gentle voice.

Kate looked over to see a nurse fixing a drip on her IV pump. "What happened?" she murmured, trying to scoot up in bed but feeling the stab of pain from her stomach.

The nurse smiled softly, "You were shot Ms. Beckett, and you have been in surgery for the past 6 hours." She sat in the chair next to her. "Thanks to a certain someone, the bullet missed any critical organs and the surgeons were able to contain all the bleeding. It's going to be painful to move for awhile, but you are going to be okay."

Kate looked at her with her intense green eyes, remembering back to all the screaming and worried faces. To his worried face. "Is everybody else.."

"Everyone is fine," she reassured her, "In fact, you have quite the fan club in the waiting room hoping you'd wake up soon."

"Can I see them?"

"Of course, I'll go get them."

Kate watched her walk out, and moments later a crowd of smiling faces swarmed the room. They each took their turn hugging her gently. As Lanie approached she whispered in her ear, "Don't you dare do that to me again girl." The brunette smiled back at her friend. "I'll try Lanie."

"We're just glad you're okay," Ryan chimed in. "It was a close one, thanks to this guy saving the day." He slugged Castle's shoulder who was looking more nervous than usual. Kate looked up at his blue eyes and knew that something was different. Castle, on the other hand, didn't really know how to react. He was trying to gage if she remembered those moments before.

"He always tends to do that doesn't he?" she said, giving him a small smile.

_She remembers._ Castle beamed back at her. Before he could say anything, Kate's dad walked to her side, "Guess you should keep him around then huh?" Everyone smirked as they caught the double meaning and watched the father hug his daughter. "I'm glad you're okay Katie."

"Me too dad." She hugged him as tight as she could without causing too much pain. She looked around at this room full of people: Alexis, Martha, the boys, Jenny, her father, her best friend, and her partner. This is what Castle was talking about. She couldn't imagine leaving them behind. Then she remembered, "Wait, so what exactly happened? Did you guys catch who was sho..."

Esposito interrupted, "There will be time for details later Beckett. You need to rest up."

"Yeah but..."

At that moment the nurse walked in again, "He's right Ms. Beckett, unfortunately visiting hours are over and you have a long road ahead. You need to get some sleep."

Unwillingly Kate agreed. She would have time to look into this later. She said her goodbyes and watched every one of them walk out. She scanned the group looking for those blue eyes. Beckett hadn't gotten a chance to talk to him and realized she must have missed him slip out. As she shifted a little in her bed, she heard her door creak open.

"Kate?" She looked over and found exactly who she was looking for.

"Breaking the rules already Castle?"

He smiled, "The nurse is a fan..."

Kate rolled her eyes, "Of course she is." As he took steps closer to her bed, her stomach filled with a sudden burst of butterflies. She felt her eyes well up at she looked up at the man that saved her - the friend she almost lost.

He sat next to her meeting her gaze. The unspoken silence was saying more than either of them cared to admit. She slid her fingers under his hand, "Rick I..."

He looked down, "Kate.. you can't ever do that to me again." She watched him look back up, tears in his eyes. "I thought I lost you there."

She squeezed his hand, "Hey, I'm okay." He breathed out slowly, watching her and committing every curve of her face to memory. After what seemed like minutes, Kate took a breath, "I heard you. I heard what you said to me."

He paused for a moment and then smiled weakly, "I was hoping you would."

"Poor timing don't you think?" she smirked.

He let out a soft chuckle, "I think better late than never." He brought his other hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She shivered at his touch.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Her voice was now a whisper. "Rick..."

Castle felt himself gulp, the tension building. "Yeah?" He whispered back.

"I love you too."

Castle's face was glowing, "I knew you would eventually." She laughed slugging him lightly before he leaned forward and closed the gap between them, promising himself that he would never let her go.


End file.
